मनोजवं   मारुततुल्यवेगं,  जितेन्द्रियं   बुद्धिमतां   वरिष्ठ  । वातात्मजं   वानरयूथमुख्यं,  श्रीरामदूतं   शरणं   प्रपद्ये  । जिनकी मन के समान गति और वायु के समान वेग है, जो परम जितेन्दिय और बुद्धिमानों में श्रेष्ठ हैं, उन पवनपुत्र वानरों में प्रमुख श्रीरामदूत की मैं शरण लेता हूं!! आज हनुमान जयंती है. हनुमान जयंती को भगवान हनुमान के जन्म दिन के रूप में मनाया जाता है. ऐसा माना जाता है कि आज के दिन शिव जी के ११वे अवतार के रूप में हनुमान जी का पृथ्वी पर आगमन हुआ था. और उनकाअवतरण भी एक खास मकसद से हुआ था. वो था भगवान विष्णु  के अवतार श्री राम की सेवा. हनुमान जी को श्री राम का सबसे बड़ा भक्त माना जाता है और उनकी अनन्य भक्ति के कारन ही हमेशा श्री राम के साथ हनुमान जी को भी पूजा जाता है. दोनों, भक्त और भगवान के इस रिश्ते को कई लेखो, कहानियो और ग्रंथो में  बड़े ही भाव पूर्वक दर्शाया गया है. हिन्दू धर्म की खासियत कहे कि उसमे ऐसी कई कहानियाँ है जो हमे किसी ना किसी भगवान के अवतरण के बारे में बतलाती है. और हर कहानी हमे कोई ना कोई ...

There are so many women achievers to count for us who have been an inspiration and role model for many of us. The list includes great women from our ancient history to those who have become achievers just this morning. Almost all of us would name a woman who has inspired us in life. I myself have remained influenced by the acts, life, and achievements of many women at different phases of my life. Yes, I had started with an assumption of being a great dancer when I had made my maiden moves on Shri Devi’s Nau Nau chudiyan song. Later, I remained influenced by Kalpana Chawala, Sushmita Sen, and Indira Nooyi also. My marriage made me look at my own mother as how she could manage a family life and workload in that much required balanced form and I became influenced by her too. But now, I feel I am a fan of my own self. I am a housewife who had left job a few years back and could not join back after being indulged in marriage family life. I certainly would not recommend my name to a lis...

होली का दिन हो और अपनी हिंदी फिल्मो के गाने न बजे ऐसा कैसे हो सकता है..  रंग बरसे भीगे चुनर वाली.. और आज ना छोड़ेंगे बस हमजोली.. जैसे गाने जब तक न बजे लगता ही नहीं कि होली आ गई है. इन गानों का बजना और लोगों का थिरकना जैसे किसी परंपरा की तरह हो गया है. होली के त्योहार का उत्साह बढ़ाने में बॉलीवुड ने हमारा खूब साथ दिया है. 1958 से लेकर आज तक फिल्मों में होली के गीत फिल्माएं जाते हैं और वे सुर्खियां भी बटोरते हैं. होली पर गानों का इतिहास काफी पुराना है. पहले के समय में लोग होली पर 'फाग' गाते थे. इसके साथ ही बड़े सारे गाने राधा-कृष्ण की होली को दर्शाने वाले होते थे. जैसे "आज ब्रिज में होली  रे रसिया..". 1981 में आई फिल्म सिलसिला का 'रंग बरसे भीगे चुनर वाली..' होली पर गाये और बजाये जाने वाले गानों में सबसे लोकप्रिय है. असल में ये गाना काफी पुराना है जिसकी जड़े अवध में गाये जाने वाले एक तरह के फाग में है. अभिताभ बच्चन जी खुद ही कई बार बताया कि ये गाना उन्होंने सबसे पहले अपनी पिता जी, हरिवंश राय बच्चन जी से सुना था. फिल्म में इस गाने का रूप थोड़ा बदला पर मिठ...

Just look the picture below,  Isn't is mouthwatering? Gulab Jamun is known as one of the most popular Indian desserts. This my favorite sweet dish among all other plentiful of sweet dishes that we Indians relish every now and then. I always feel that there is a significant connection between our festivals and sweets. In every festival, one specific sweet dish is being prepared in houses depending on the weather and time of the year. However, Gulab Jamun is a season free dish. You can enjoy it's soft and melting taste anytime anywhere. I am not a born Gulab Jamun lover. Rather I discovered my love for Gulab Jamun quite late. During my pregnancy, I found that the fridge-chilled Gulab Jamun was the only thing that could satisfy my craving. I felt heaven after having Gulab Jamun. Day and night I used to dream about having Gulab Jamun only. My fridge had a box of Gulab Jamun all the time. I didn’t want to share my Gulab Jamuns with anyone, not even with my husband. He used ...

When I saw the prompt of this week "How to teach kids importance of Republic day" I was both amused and confused. Teaching kids anything around nationalism and patriotism is really tough. These are such abstract feeling that can only be understood when one really realizes the importance of Independence and how the collective efforts of our freedom fighters brought it to us. In today's time, when most of the adults are ignorant in executing their duties towards the country, how can we expect kids to be loving for our country!! However, I remember my childhood when I was very patriotic. Reading stories of struggle of freedom was in the curriculum. I was in touch with theories and ethics that made our country. How rules and regulations were made, how tax system was introduced, how policies were made and how our country progressed. I was loving our country so much.  Slowly, as I grew up, I started forgetting all that I read and with that, I also became the part of the c...

Today we are celebrating the 121st birth anniversary of Neta Ji Subhash Chandra Bose. Neta Ji was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure and well-known personality in the Indian history. Subhas Chandra Bose is affectionately called "Netaji", who is known for his intelligence, bravery, supreme sacrifice and his role in the freedom struggle of the country. Contrary to non-violence thinking of many of the leaders of Indian's struggle for freedom, he founded Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) to overthrow the British ruling and came to acquire legendary status among Indian masses. Even our social media is paying tribute to Neta Ji with sharing his famous sayings and thoughts. It's our responsibility to let our kids know about him and how he participated in India's struggle for freedom. It is worth remembering him today and his famous quotes who used to fill people with so much courage and love of our co...

The republic day, the second most important proud national festival is just around the corner. Schools that are open in fog and cold like this, have started to prepare for a cultural event and so is the going-on-job at several other institutions that are going to call for an event on this red-letter day. Among all these preparations, there came an important advisory from the government that urges people not to use national flags that are made of plastic .  We all know how necessary it is to forsake the use of plastic at every level possible to comfort our already endangered mother nature. But then, when it comes to a national event, we see the use of national flags made of plastic everywhere. At least on signals and outside schools, there are bundles of plastic flags bought and sold around a national holiday. The culture of event decoration also makes us notice plastic flags used for decoration purpose at malls, parks, schools etc.  Of course, plastic flags cost less t...

In our country, we celebrate life and all those things which help in living our lives well. One such celebration is Harvest festivals. In different states of India, harvest festivals are being celebrated based on the main crops of that region and its timing. But regardless of state or time, the main reason behind every harvest festival is to welcome new food and to bid thanks to almighty for giving us an important aspect of our lives, harvest. Here are few harvest festivals that we celebrate with excitement and zeal every year :  1. Makara Sankranti in January:  Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated in almost every state of India. This festival is to honour the beginning of the harvest season and end of the northeast monsoon in South India. Makar Sankranti is respected as the beginning of an auspicious phase in Indian (Hindu) culture. It is cited as the 'holy phase of transition'. Makara Sankranti is known as Pongal, Uttarayana, Lohri, Kh...

Have you decided your New Year resolutions? Not yet? Let me help you. You don't need to scratch your head and think about resolutions. If you don't believe in resolutions, it is also fine. But setting goals makes something to look upon every day. That's why we all work in the fashion of chasing targets. Targets give us a reason to feel energetic. These goals make us do new and creative things in life. And the success of those goals gives us reasons to enjoy and feel happy about ourselves. We then set new goals and targets for us. This is a cyclic process you see. Now, there could be bigger and serious goals. At the same time, there could smaller, sweet and easily achievable goals. Have a look at some of the sweet and easy New Year Resolutions : 1. Compliment Someone Everyday . 2. Compliment youself Everyday 3. Say Thank you to Someone Everyday 4. Forgive Someone Everyday 5. Help Someone Everyday 6. Make people Smile Everyday ...

With the New Year starting to bloom and talks of New Year resolution already fizzling, the very common yet serious question that people brainstorm is "Why we can’t  stick to our goals?" Is this happening to you as well? Then this post is definitely going to help you. I know, we carefully make our goals for the year. We try all possible ways to chase our goals. However, when finally the year comes to its end and we start re-evaluating how much we achieved, we often feel "Oh, not again. I am still far from what I planned." Let me tell you it’s not because there is a lack of desire. We want to achieve something and that's why the goals were set in the first place. It’s not because we didn’t have the right motivations. The biggest reason why most of us fail at keeping to our goals is that we are focusing on the wrong issue. As per a study, the most common new year resolutions are "Losing Weight" and "Earn More Money". Why are these two ...

How was your last Christmas? Weekend and Christmas on Monday was an ultimate combination for enjoying a family outing. The festive season was at its peak. isn't it? A few years ago, this would sound like some joke, as in our country, the festivities peak during Diwali and go down towards the end of the year. But now, mall-owners are saying, Christmas is the anchor period for festival sales. It is going beyond Diwali sales.  After coming to Delhi, I realized that the buying trend of people here is largely based on festivals, seasons and sales. In my hometown, giving gifts on Diwali is limited to offices only. People still prefer to visit family members and friends than sending them gifts or sweets. However, here in Delhi NCR, gifting is an important part of Diwali celebration. And that's why I see a huge number of gift shops getting aligned from September only. When it comes to Christmas, gifting even goes way higher. There is a growing trend of gifting on Christmas especi...

Add caption I am sure you must have heard the story of  Rudolph, the reindeer.  This story was written way back in 1939 by  Mr. Robert May , an employee in the advertising department of Montgomery Ward stores  at Chicago. Did you know that the original name of the reindeer was Rollo? But May’s boss did not like it, and hence the name Rudolph came from the author’s young daughter. For those who don't know this story, I am going to share the story again. Now, this has a great moral lesson hidden in it and I would try to explain that as well. Here goes the story : Once there was reindeer named Rudolph. He had a shiny red nose. Everyone in reindeer village used to make fun of him because of his strange nose. His father even asked him to hide his nose so that he could fit in reindeer games. However, his nose was not an ordinary red nose. With his red nose, Rudolph was capable of seeing through the thick fog. But as others used to laugh at Rudolph, he...

Christmas is around the corner and everyone, especially kids are excited. I always feel Christmas is such a kid-friendly festival. Unlike our festivals like Diwali and Holi, there is not much outdoor activity for kids in Christmas. All decorations happen inside the home. The celebration also involves having a gala time being home with great food and Christmas desserts. There are a lot of similarities between Diwali and Christmas as well. Diwali and Christmas, both major occasions are for families and friends to come together in the festive spirit and exchange gifts, sweets and greetings for a propitious year ahead. Although being a non-Christian, I never really celebrated Christmas, but I love this festival as much as I love Diwali. It's simply impossible to ignore Christmas these days. Just like Diwali, you can see shops getting decorated with lights, gifts and desserts from the last week of November. It’s hard to spot an ad that doesn’t have a Christmas theme. ...

अभी हाल ही में मैं अपने परिवार की दो शादियों में शामिल होकर आई हूँ . मज़ा आया सच में. सारा परिवार, दूर वाले भी रिश्तेदार और अच्छा खाना और क्या चाहिए मौसम और शादी के मज़े लेने के लिए. एक हफ्ते में मैंने कई सारी रस्मे और रिवाज़ देखे और उनमे शामिल भी हुई. हर रस्म के पहले घर की सारी महिलाएं और लड़कियाँ सज धज कर तैयार हो जाती थी और फिर रस्मो के बीच-बीच में फोटो और सेल्फी सेशन होते रहते थे. जब से ये सेल्फी लेने का चलन शुरू हुआ है कम लोग ही चूकते है अपने सुन्दर और बेदाग सेल्फी लेने से. इन सब रस्मो के चलते मैं भी एक हफ्ते में कम से कम ७-८ बार अलग अलग साड़ियां पहन कर तैयार हुई. थोड़ा मेकअप तो बनता ही है साड़ी के साथ तो वो भी किआ. मैचिंग नकली ज्युलरी और एक अच्छी सी स्माइल चेहरे पर. सुन्दर दिखने के लिए इतना तो किया ही जा सकता है. इस सज़ने-सवरने के बीच मैंने अपने परिवार की और भी महिलाओ और छोटी लड़कियों की तरफ गौर किआ. सब की सब सुन्दर दिखना चाहती थी. चाहे वो मेरी ५० साल की सासू माँ हो या ४ साल की भतीजी, सबने भरपूर मेहनत की शादी की धूम धाम के बीच सुन्दर दिखने की. घर की बड़ी लड़कियाँ जिनके पास टा...